Democracy 101: Beyond the labels and lashings

[susankh4]

This week someone I respect VERY MUCH for his ability to reason.... told me that Hillary should get out of the race "for the sake of party consensus." A day later I opined that democracy is alive and well in the Democratic party for a change. That was when a newer voter asked me "how would you suggest we unite the party with all the bickering going on?" My answer....

A little Democracy 101:

*People are allowed, no... ENCOURAGED to disagree and debate.

*Voters are allowed, no..... REQUIRED to look at the issues, voting records, and tactics of their candidates.

*Democracy is NOT consensus. They are two different things. The latter often involves coersion. The former is supposed to = one person/one vote. (I will grant that some of the caucusing I have been hearing about sounds like the latter and... with all the bullying going on I don't like that one bit. But, still, the goal is one person/one vote.)

*Being able to observe how the GOP battles things out with our presumed candidate places us in a stronger position to make an INFORMED choice. That's a good thing. We've seen Mr. McCain's "white flag" attacks on Hillary. We know what the right wing media does to the Clintons. Now we are seeing how they approach Barack. BE GLAD for the preview.

*Friends can still be friends and support different candidates. In the end I will still be friends with you. I EXPECT you to vote your conscience. That is the duty of anyone in a democracy. I would not want to quell dissent in order to push through my agenda.

One final note:
With Matt Gonzalez now in the race as Nader's running mate... I expect that we are all going to know *way* more about our candidates than we do now. Maybe more than we want to know. No stone will remain unturned if it would be a stumbling block to the progressive agenda we all claim to want. We don't have to like it.... but, Matt is doing us a favor by coming out with his progressive critiques now, while we still have a decision to make. Maybe, by the time we see November we'll have an informed electorate with some clear choices before them. Maybe we'll get beyond the labels and onto the issues.

Now wouldn't that be novel?